As a new parent you find yourself wanting to give your child everything you think they deserve (and then some). Most of all, you want to give safety and a good future. Often the urge to spoil your child conflicts with this desire to protect. One could easily shower their offspring with a wealth of toys and in fact our culture encourages us to do so. At the same time, you cannot turn on the news or read a newspaper without hearing about the latest toy recall. Mostly, the toys being recalled are those made in China. Lead based paint appears to be the main problem, but if you dig down deeper you come to discover the root of the problem exists in our own demand for guaranteed low prices. It save the American family a few dollars, a lot of corners are getting cut. That is unless you consider the added cost of medical bills due to a defective toy harming your child.
We never wanted to spoil Ania. Over and over we’ve told people that she’ll grow out of these toys, sooner than you’d think. We ask people to consider what they’d spend on her and then half that number. Take half the money and put it in a savings bond and spend the other half on toys. I’ve yet to read about one savings bond getting recalled due to lead based paint. (As for the declining value of the American Dollar, that’s another issue). When she’s older she’ll appreciate those bonds and if she starts out getting a limited amount of toys she’ll never come to expect a large quantity.
What we really want Ania to learn is quality over quantity. One really good gift, something that she’ll play with for a long time trumps ten trendy items that come and go like flavors of the month It seems that every where I look there’s hundreds of new, must-have toys, most of them made of plastic and electronics. I know I sound old fashioned, perhaps even unAmerican, but what ever happened to toys that required some imagination?
Thankfully, we’ve found some. They are mostly made in Europe, but you can get them through an American company called Oompa Enterprises (or Oompa for short). They are out of Madison, Wisconsin and that means that when you buy from them you are supporting a local business or at least a business that is local to Ania.
This year, if you are looking to get Ania something we highly encourage you to shop through Oompa. We’ve even put together a list of things we think Ania could use. Though, honestly, she’d be happy with just about anything age-appropriate from this site.
